CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Talon war room was located on the fourth floor of the castle and the clinic was on the first. After both Kobi and I were given a clean bill of health, the three of us had a long, awkward climb up the spiral steps until we arrived at our destination.
“Good, you’re here.” Reign stepped back from a conversation with Julian and Savage. Cowboy and Bruin were there too—as well as Galan. “Let’s get started.”
Samuel closed the door behind us. “The sooner we get started, the sooner it’s over.”
Reign strode to the head of a long, oval table and took a seat. “For the sake of expediency let me recap. Bruin’s recovery of the King’s ring in his abandoned childhood home was successful and uneventful. And while he had three squads of enforcers with their thumbs up their asses in Alaska, Savage was being Ginsued in the clearing, unable to defend against angry ghosts taking possession of Lia.”
Samuel pursed his lips and exhaled. “Aye, that pretty much covers it. If not for Savage holding her back and Kobi and I being in the clearing, she would have been taken and possessed before anyone knew what was going on.”
“And how did you know what was going on?”
Samuel shook his head. “I didn’t. I saw the demon shift and figured if he was showing his true self in public, something monumentally bad was going down. I followed along until I figured out what was happening.”
“And, Kobi? How’d you know? You were across the clearing, right?”
Kobi shifted forward in his seat and tapped his fingers on the surface of the table. “Distance wouldn’t matter. I felt the energy surge. A call for dark souls.”
“Felt it?”
He nodded and cleared his throat, flashing a heated gaze. “Evil energy is an aphrodisiac to an incubus, like waking up with someone sucking on your cock. It’s hard to ignore when it’s happening and easy to pinpoint where the pleasure is coming from.”
Reign set his elbows on the table and tented his fingers. “And this call for dark souls rang through the air? From who? From where?”
“Could Abaddon be behind it?” Galan asked. I expected him to cast me a glance, he did not.
Kobi shook his head. “No. The call came from the entity trying to possess Lia. The others were summoned to secure her for the taking.”
Reign rubbed his palm across his eyes and cursed. “All right, what about the attempt at possession?”
All eyes turned to me and I tried to recall everything from the moment Gemma and I arrived at the cemetery fence, to the icy presence slithering into my consciousness, to waking up in the recovery room with Kobi. Samuel stiffened at that point of my recount and I ended my story. “Kobi and I wondered if it was Rheagan.”
Julian pulled out his phone and held up his finger as Reign began to speak. When Lexi’s voice picked up on the other end, I was even more confused.
“Hey Wiseass, whassup?” she said.
Julian pushed a button and laid his phone flat on the table. “Princess, listen, You’re on speaker. I’m in the war room in a meeting of minds. Are you here or back in Attalos?”
“I’m downstairs with Jade and Rowan at the clinic. We’re talking about grabbing dinner at the Hearthstone, why?”
“’Cause I need you to come up and tell us what it felt like when Rheagan tried to possess you. Specifically, what her presence felt like.”
We heard her working her way through the student-filled corridors of the castle. “Eew, creepy, is that what went on?”
Reign leaned forward. “Your brother’s wearing that look he gets when he’s about to wow us with his intuitive brilliance.”
“Ahh, I know that look. I’m on my way.”
Samuel rolled his eyes, but only I noticed. Then it occurred to me. The room was filling with his least favorite people and one more was on the way. Lexi and Galan were openly hostile with him, and Kobi and I had offended him back at the clinic. I wondered where the problem stemmed. Protectiveness? Did he disapprove of my actions, or did he disapprove of the demon I had chosen to pleasure?
Lexi arrived and Reign stood to greet her.
The contrast between the massive six-foot-six mountain of a male with long brindle hair and his petite, adoptive daughter with short, ebony spikes remained as jarring as the first time I saw them side by side last summer. Lexi reached up and hugged her father, her black velvety wings flexing as they embraced. She cast a warm, amethyst glance around the room but avoided Samuel completely.
I found myself offended on his behalf.
As always, Lexi was less the petite Faerie female and more the warrior of her family. Even in designer jeans with a glittery gold halter top, she wore a large knife sheathed against her thigh and another in a shoulder harness.
“Thanks for coming, Lex. Now, back to the question at hand.” Julian pointed to the chair across the table from him, but his sister waved it away. “When the bat-shit queen attempted to possess you in Attalos, you told us what happened, but what did it feel like?”
Lexi unsheathed the knife from her thigh and began a slow stroll around the table as she twirled it around her fingers. “At first it was like a shadow edging into my dream. My heart raced and a buzzing built in my ears. A slither of icy awareness snaked through my skull, down the nape of my neck and into my chest. As it spread, my vision dimmed. I couldn’t breathe, suffocating on frigid cold as it leached through my lungs into my arms and legs. I felt her to the depths of my soul—an evil strength, luring, coercing, growing more seductive every moment.”
As the images danced in my memory I choked. Cowboy strode to the cabinet at the wall and returned with a glass of dark red wine. The fruity bite eased the twisting knot in my throat. I sipped some more.
“What about laughing?” I asked. “A confident, maniacal laugh which makes your insides churn.”
“Not the first few times when she came in my dreams, but when she grew more confident, yeah. Nasty laughter bubbled up from nowhere and echoed inside me until it vibrated in my bones.”
I nodded to the group. “What Lexi describes is what happened to me. Exactly. Do you believe Rheagan tried to overtake me?”
Reign frowned. “With her powers stripped and cast into the sea, she shouldn’t have been able to do any of this.”
Kobi stroked his goatee and scowled. “She’s not powerless, Boss. If I hadn’t been right there to rip her from Lia, she would’ve overtaken her within minutes. She’s got a shitload of evil mojo if she can raise the dead, control them during an attack and attempt a possession at the same time. If she’d taken root inside Lia, I’m not sure we’d be able to weed her out.”
My head grew light.
Lexi took a seat next to Reign and leaned on the table in a pose identical to his. Though not related by blood, Julian, Bruin, Jade, and Lexi all carried traits and mannerisms of their adoptive father.
“So,” Reign said, taking his phone from his leather vest and texting someone, “how do you suppose she was able to take root in Lia in the first place?”
Julian scrubbed his palm over his short afro. “What if Abaddon’s soul capture spell was intended to make it possible for another soul to take possession of Lia’s body. Like vacating the house for the new tenant. And now Rheagan’s trying to move in.”
With the total absence of mirth, I laughed, my heart pounding in my ears. “Abaddon wants to give Rheagan my body? He’s taking me before the Fates, claiming me as his mate, so we can rule together once Rheagan possesses me?”
Galan cursed a long, colorful stream of Elven profanity. “Castian cannot let this happen. If that is where this is headed he must put an end to it.”
Reign cast my brother a dispassionate gaze. “The God of gods is sworn to support the rights of all his charges, Galan. You still don’t quite get it, do you? I know you look up to the guy, but his stance gets damned frustrating. Regardless of right and wrong, Abaddon’s claims will be heard and the laws will dictate the outcome, not Castian.”
Reign’s seat creaked as the warrior leaned back. “All right, boys and girls, assuming our theory on the possession is correct, what can we do about it?”
Kobi wrapped his knuckles against the surface of the table. “Merlin wants me to stick close, but at best, it’s a short-term solution. Our best option is capturing a Hell Hound and bonding it with Lia.”
Reign’s neck cranked around so fast it must have hurt. “A Hell Hound?”
Kobi shrugged. “They’re territorial when they claim a master. They consume evil souls like candy. And they generally scare the piss out of everyone with half a brain.”
“Any other ideas?” Reign said, glancing around the table. “Maybe something not involving demonic canines and sending people to scale the fiery pit of hell to separate it from its mother?”
“Castian could ward her,” Galan said, raising a hand before Reign could argue. “To be true to his position of non-interference, he could ward her against possession from members of his or any other Pantheon. That would include his sister, Rheagan, anyone from Behind the Veil and any deities from other Pantheons. It would not, however, protect her from earthbound souls.”
Samuel nodded. “That’s a solid idea, Galan. It won’t keep spirits from attacking her, but it would dash Abaddon and Rheagan’s plan to rule through her.”
Seeing Samuel and Galan agree on something highlighted just how dire my situation was. Ignoring how they failed to ask me my opinion, or speak to me directly, I added my thoughts. “I fear for the safety of those guarding me. Savage fought and yet had no effect on the evil spirits.”
What about me serving as one of your guards, little one?
I jumped and spun around to the doorway. Tham sat perched on the bureau behind the entrance swinging his suede boots in a lazy pendulum. He winked, appearing as strong and capable in death as he had in life. He hopped down to his feet and strode closer. Following Lexi around is growing old—though if you repeat that, I shall deny it—but if Sav had no effect because what attacked you was spirit-based, mayhap having a spirit guard is an answer.
I pushed my chair back and looked to see what Galan thought of the idea. Galan nodded and repeated Tham’s plans to the rest of the room.
“The logic is sound,” Samuel said. “Tham is strong in a melee and ye trust him, aye?”
“But I what if something more happens to him because of me? How do I live with that?”
Tham squatted down beside my chair, his smile dimming. Surely, the Fates freed us from the village for me to do more than get cut down before proving my worth. My future may not be what I envisioned, but I shall make the most of who and what I am.
When Reign and Kobi broke into the conversation, Galan and I discussed the idea more with the others. Lexi despised the idea of Tham standing between me and evil spirits, and Samuel’s scowl deepened even further. The rest of the room thought the idea had merit.
And so, it was decided, for a trial basis, Tham was named another of my personal guard.